AMD Phenom II X6 Processors Review Roundup

Microprocessor manufacturer AMD Corp. has just officially released its new hexa-core processors. The parts, selling under the trademark Phenom II X6, are based on the Thuban design and feature six physical cores. The new processors, along with HD5800-series of graphics cards and the 890FX motherboard chipset, form the updated enthusiast-level platform AMD calls Leo.

Two CPUs are launching on April 27th, the Phenom II X6 1055T and the 1090T Black Edition, respectively priced at the 200$ and 300$ marks. The products are very similar, with only clock speeds differentiating the two. The 1090T is also featuring an unlocked multiplier, useful to enthusiasts and overclockers. The 1055T comes with an operating frequency of 2.8Ghz, while the 1090T is clocked at 3.2Ghz. Thuban processors are able to auto-overclock some cores using AMD’s Turbo Core technology when three cores or more are idle. Doing so brings core speed up to 3.3Ghz on the 1055T, and to 3.6Ghz on the 1090T. Both parts have a rated thermal envelope of 125w.

The new parts are compatible with all AM2+ and AM3 motherboards, but manufacturers must release a BIOS update in order to have the CPUs correctly recognized. Also launching today is the new 890FX chipset for high-end AM3 motherboards, the final piece of the Leo platform.

More details about turbo core. Boiled down, if 3 or more cores are idle, 3 cores get underclocked, the remaining 3 cores get a boost by as much as 500mhz as well as some extra voltage. This feature is on by default, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out with manual overclocks - definitely puts more seasoning in the stew! Those who have already been using Turbo Boost on Intel chips may have some insight, as the same expectations may or may not be true for Turbo Core AMD chips. Further details: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3641/amd-divulges-phenom-ii-x6-secrets-turbo-core-enabled

For manual overclocking, you want the turbo off (intel), my guess is it will be the same thing with AMD. I will find out today, as UPS show that they delivered, my 1090T and a Crosshai IV this afternoon. Will be playing with the ting tonight!

Nice ICEBOB, thanks for the heads up! The slide in Anand's article implies that it's automatically enabled, so I'm really interested in knowing what the options are to control this sort of behavior - for single threaded benchmarks where other cores are likely to be idle, I know you wouldn't want this thing going willy-nilly with the frequency and voltages on it's own. I'd assume although it's "enabled automatically by default", it would be disabled if you are specifying settings manually through BIOS. Just want to actually see it, and I'm not up to date even on how Intel's Turbo Boost works... I haven't heard of that tripping anyone up on their 980X.

Weird. For some, like me, having turbo on and adding that extra multiplier (permanently on some boards) is welcomed as it gives you more clockspeed before you hit your Bclk or HTref walls. When I look at hwbot I see people running the extra multi to 22x (and more, like up to 25!!!) on i7 860. I havent pushed past 4.5Ghz with this thing and is my first exposure to it so I cant speak too much I suppose, but it hasnt bothered me yet. ;) I have heard about even numbred multi's in the intel world being more unstable than the odds, but I have also seen, from equally qulaified people, that isnt true...My personal experience deems this untrue as well. Been rocking a 22x multi at 4Ghz+ for a week or so now.